The son of a Jewish fruit merchant at Spitalfields, Isaacs was educated at University College School,
and then entered the family business at the age of fifteen. In
1876-77 he served as a ships-boy and later worked as a jobber on
the stock-exchange, 1880-84. He was called to the bar, the Middle Temple, in
1887.[1]

In 1918, Isaacs was appointed Ambassador to the United States, a
position in which he served until 1919, while continuing at the
same time as Lord Chief Justice. In 1921, he resigned the chief
justiceship to become Viceroy of India.
Although he preferred a conciliatory policy, he ended up using
force on several occasions, and imprisoned Mahatma Gandhi in 1922. In MacDonald's National Government in August 1931, he
briefly served as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, but
stood down after the first major reshuffle in November due to
ill-health.

Isaacs lived at Foxhill House in Earley, adjoining Reading, and was elevated to the Peerage as Baron
Reading, of Erleigh
in the County of Berkshire, in 1914, and continued to rise in
the Peerage: he was created Viscount Reading, of
Erleigh in the County of Berkshire, in 1916; Earl of
Reading along with the subsidiary title of
Viscount Erleigh, of Erleigh in the County of
Berkshire, in 1917; and eventually Marquess of
Reading in 1926. This is the highest rank in the Peerage
reached by a Jew in British history.
He was knighted in 1910, made a KCVO in 1911, a GCB in 1915, a GCSI
and GCIE in 1921 (upon appointment as Viceroy of India) and a GCVO
in 1922

Isaacs married Alice Edith Cohen
in 1887.Lady Reading was a chronic invalid, who eventually died of
cancer a year after Reading's viceroyalty ended. He then married
Stella Charnaud, the first Lady Reading's secretary.

He assumed the surname Rufus Isaacs, which is
still used by his male-line descendants.

Contents

Marconi
scandal

Isaacs was one of several high-ranking members of the Liberalgovernment accused of
involvement in the "Marconi scandal".[3] An
article published in Le Matin on February 14, 1913
alleged corruption in the award of a government contract to the Marconi Company
and insider
trading in Marconi's shares, implicating a number of sitting
government ministers, including Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the
Exchequer; Isaacs, then Attorney General;
Herbert Samuel, Postmaster
General; and the Treasurer of the Liberal Party, the Master of
Elibank, Lord Murray.[4]
The allegations included the fact that Isaacs' brother, Godfrey
Isaacs, was managing director of the Marconi company at the time
that the cabinet, in which Isaacs sat, was awarding Marconi the
contract.[5][6] Isaacs
and Samuels sued Le Matin for libel, and as a result, the journal
apologised and printed a complete retraction in its February 18,
1913 issue.[4][7][8] The
factual matters were at least partly resolved by a parliamentary select
committee investigation, which issued three reports: all found
that Isaacs and others had purchased shares in the American Marconi
company, but while the fellow-Liberal members of the committee
cleared the ministers of all blame, the opposition members reported
that Isaacs and others had acted with "grave impropriety".[4]
The truth of the matter has been described as "obscure".[9]

1 Following the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny.
2 As representatives of George VI in his rÃ´le
as King of India (1947â€“50). 3 As
representatives of George VI and then Elizabeth II in
their rÃ´les as King and Queen of Pakistan, respectively.